Inflatable bed

ABSTRACT

An inflatable bed having an inflatable top mattress portion and an inflatable support structure portion having at least one ring section. Each ring section of the support structure portion includes a peripheral tubular member defining an exterior periphery and a reinforcing member connected thereto.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to inflatable beds. Inflatable beds arewell known in the art. However, despite the multitude of inflatable beddesigns, there remains a need for a stable and comfortable inflatablebed that minimizes material used to manufacture the bed, which not onlyreduces the weight of the inflatable bed, but also reduces the spacerequired to store the bed when it is deflated and folded.

SUMMARY

An inflatable bed having an inflatable top mattress portion and aninflatable support structure portion. The top mattress portion may beany type of inflatable mattress. The support structure portionpreferably includes at least one ring section, but may include multiplering sections depending on the desired height of the top mattressportion. Each ring section comprises a peripheral tubular memberdefining an exterior periphery. Each ring section also includes at leastone reinforcing member.

Preferably, although not required, at least one internal air passagewayfluidly connects the top mattress portion with the peripheral tubularmember of the adjacent ring section of the support structure portionsuch that the top mattress portion and support structure portion can beinflated and deflated together.

The reinforcing member is preferably at least partially connected toopposing sides of the peripheral tubular member, whether in thelongitudinal or transverse directions, or diagonally or in any otherdirection. Preferably, although not required, the reinforcing member isfluidly connected to the peripheral tubular member of the ring sectionsuch that the reinforcing member and the peripheral tubular member ofthe ring section can be inflated and deflated together.

Preferably, the adjacently disposed peripheral members are connectedonly along short spaced lengths so that a portion the top mattress canbe lifted up from the support structure portion to enable sheets to betucked therebetween.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of theinflatable bed of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1 inwhich the top mattress portion is shown slightly raised to illustratehow a sheet can be tucked between the top mattress portion and thesupport structure portion below.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a left side elevation view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1 asviewed along lines 6-6 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the inflatable bed of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 9 is a bottom plan view of an alternative embodiment of theinflatable bed of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of yet another alternative embodiment ofthe inflatable bed of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in drawing FIGS. 1-8, the preferred embodiment of theinflatable bed of the present invention is designated generally byreference numeral (20) and comprises a top mattress portion (1) and asupport structure portion (40). In the preferred embodiment of the bed(20) as shown in FIGS. 1-8, both the top mattress portion (1) and thesupport structure portion (40) have a substantially rectangular shapeand have substantially the same outer periphery. However, it should beunderstood that the top mattress portion (1) and the support structureportion (40) may be any desired size, shape or configuration.

In the preferred embodiment, a set of conventional controls (2) forinflating and deflating the inflatable bed (20) is preferably located onthe top mattress portions (1) for ease of access, but it should beappreciated that the controls (2) may be located in any other locationon the inflatable bed (20) as desired.

In the preferred embodiment, the support structure portion (40) includestwo ring sections (42, 44). Each ring section (42, 44) preferablyincludes a peripheral tubular member (3, 4) that defines an outerperiphery that is preferably substantially the same as the top mattressportion (1). The stacked peripheral tubular members (3, 4) arepreferably connected along their lengths in any conventional manner.Additionally, the upper peripheral tubular member (3) is preferably atleast partially connected to the top mattress portion (1) as describedin detail later. The result is a highly stable, comfortable “ring”structure that provides considerable advantages compared to conventioninflatable air beds, particularly with regard to savings in the materialused to manufacture the inflatable bed (20), the saving in space oncethe bed (20) is folded up and the reduced weight of the bed (20) itself,which makes it easier to handle, especially when folded.

It should be appreciated that the support structure portion (40) maycomprise one, two, three or any other number of ring sections dependingon the desired height of the inflatable bed (20) and the height ordiameter of the peripheral tubular members comprising the ring sections.

The preferred embodiment of the support structure portion (40) is bestillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6. As previously identified, the preferredsupport structure portion (40) includes two ring sections (42, 44) eachhaving a peripheral tubular member (3, 4) that defines the outerperiphery of the support structure portion (40). Also, as bestillustrated in FIG. 6, for greater stability, a reinforcing member (5,6) (discussed in more detail later) is preferably fluidly connected tothe peripheral tubular member (3, 4) of the respective ring sections(42, 44).

The top mattress portion (1) is preferably connected in any conventionalmanner to the support structure portion (40). In a preferred embodiment,the top mattress is intermittently connected at spaced locations (7, 8)disposed a sufficient distance from any ends, sides or corners of thebed so that the top mattress portion (1) can be lifted away from thesupport structure portion (40) as shown in FIG. 3, to enable a sheet tobe tucked between the top mattress (1) and the support structure (40)when making the bed.

As identified above, each ring section (42, 44) may include one or morereinforcing members. In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6,the reinforcing members (5, 6) of the respective ring sections (42, 44)are disposed longitudinally and in parallel relation to the peripheraltubular members (3, 4). Additionally, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4,the reinforcing members (5, 6) are preferably connected to opposingsides of the peripheral tubular members (3, 4) and are preferably influid communication therewith. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, thereinforcement members (5, 6) may extend transversely, as shown in FIG.10, the reinforcement members (5, 6) may extend diagonally from onecorner of the peripheral tubular members (3, 4) of the respective ringsections (42, 44) to the opposite corner of the peripheral tubularmember (3, 4) of the ring section (42, 44).

As illustrated in FIG. 8, a plurality of internal passageways (50) arepreferably provided to communicate air between the top mattress portion(1) and the peripheral tubular member (3) of the first ring section (42)of the support structure portion (40). Additionally, a plurality ofinternally passageways (50) are preferably provided to communicate airbetween the peripheral tubular members (3, 4) of the ring sections (42,44) of the support structure portion (40) to enable the inflatable bed(20) to inflate and deflate together.

The material used to manufacture the inflatable bed (20) may vary,provided it is elastic, lightweight and can be folded. The preferredmaterials may include PVC plastic or similar textiles with plasticcoatings, rubber materials or others recognized by those skilled in theart.

An inflatable bed made in accordance herewith provides considerableadvantages compared to the state of the art, including the reduction ofthe amount of material required to manufacture the inflatable bedcompared to currently known inflatable beds consisting of varioussimilar parts one on top of the other, and the considerable reduction inweight and space taken up, which is particularly important when the bedis folded up for storage and shipping, etc.

Although only certain exemplary embodiments of the invention have beendescribed in detail above, those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that many modifications are possible without materiallydeparting from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention.Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included withinthe scope of the claims appended hereto.

1. An inflatable bed, comprising: an inflatable top mattress portionhaving an exterior periphery; an inflatable support structure portionhaving at least one ring section, each ring section having at least oneperipheral tubular member defining an exterior periphery, each ringsection further having at least one reinforcing member.
 2. Theinflatable bed of claim 1 further comprising at least one internal airpassage fluidly connecting the top mattress portion with the peripheraltubular member of the adjacent ring section of the support structureportion such that the top mattress portion and support structure portioncan be inflated and deflated together.
 3. The inflatable bed of claim 1wherein the exterior periphery of the top mattress portion issubstantially the same as the exterior periphery of the supportstructure portion.
 4. The inflatable bed of claim 3 wherein the exteriorperiphery of the top mattress portion and the exterior periphery of thesupport structure portion is substantially rectangular such that theperipheral tubular members of the support structure have substantiallyparallel opposing shorter sides and substantially parallel opposinglonger sides.
 5. The inflatable bed of claim 1, wherein the top mattressportion is at least partially connected to the support structureportion.
 6. The inflatable bed of claim 5, wherein the top mattressportion is connected at intermittent spaced lengths disposed a distancefrom an end of the top mattress portion so that the top mattress portioncan be lifted away from the support structure portion to enable sheetsto be tucked therebetween.
 7. The inflatable bed of claim 1 wherein theat least one reinforcing member has a first end and a second end, witheach end at least partially connected to opposing sides of theperipheral tubular member of the ring section of the support structureportion.
 8. The inflatable bed of claim 7 wherein the at least onereinforcing member is in fluid communication with the peripheral tubularmember of the ring section of the support structure portion, such thatthe reinforcing member is inflatable and deflatable together with theperipheral tubular member of the ring section.
 9. The inflatable bed ofclaim 1 wherein the support structure portion includes at least two ringsections and wherein each of the ring sections includes at least oneinternal air passage fluidly connecting the peripheral tubular member ofthe adjacent ring section such that the at least two ring sections canbe inflated and deflated together.